Mom's Poppy Seed Bread

A short story...
On this shelf of mine, I have a very special cookbook, given to me by Mom a few years back.




I go through it ALL the time and am dreading the day when I have to decide what to do - oh my! - when it fills up.



Mom spent a lot of time on this, you can tell...and probably far too long in the Hobby Lobby sticker aisle.




Every now and then, I get the urge to bake a treat for myself. Since it's only me for the time being, a loaf of bread or batch of cookies generally lasts me all week. While flipping through Mom's cookbook, I decided to give her poppy seed bread a try. I remember her making it for co-workers when I was a kid, and wrapping it in cellophane, then giving away as gifts. Mom, I might steal your idea and give it away myself this Christmas!

It's simply awesome. So moist, very fluffy yet dense at the same time, sweet enough without being too sweet, and it goes perfect with a glass of milk before bedtime. What's even better is that there's no "mix dry ingredients, add wet ingredients, blah blah blah" - you get ONE bowl and add FIVE things (okay, six, but water doesn't count.) Then stir, and bake. Ta da!



Mom's Poppy Seed Bread

1 pkg yellow cake mix (2 layer)
1 pkg instant coconut pudding mix
4 eggs
1/2 C oil
1 C hot water
1/4 C poppy seeds

Using mixer, mix all ingredients for 4 minutes. Bake in 2 loaf pans for 35 minutes at 350.
(PS - it freezes wonderfully!)

BBQ Beef and Cornbread Casserole

Yes, it sounds really weird, I know. It sounds so weird, I almost didn't make it. But then I thought to myself, "how hypocritical - I call myself 'adventurous' and 'willing to try new things' yet I am so quick to steer clear of a recipe that SOUNDS odd?" So, possibly for no reason other than to fulfill my own claims, I wrote down a grocery list and gave this one a try.

This recipe was good but didn't quite hit it outta the ballpark. I don't want to scare you away - "it sounds weird AND she says its just okay..." - because it IS good and I WILL make it again, definitely. The cornbread bakes on top of the ground beef mixture and stays surprisingly crunchy (i.e. not soggy at all) and the beef mixture has an awesome flavor. In some ways, this recipe is exactly like chili but baked in a casserole pan and made with BBQ sauce rather than chili powder.

Without further ado!

BBQ Beef and Cornbread Casserole

2 lb ground beef (I use 93/7 so no need to drain fat)
1 large onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced
10 oz can whole kernel corn, drained
1C your favorite BBQ sauce
14.5 oz can diced tomatoes, drained
2 pkgs corn bread mix (to prepare, may need eggs/milk depending on brand)

1. Brown meat (drain grease if needed.) Add onion and green pepper. Cook until vegetables are tender. Add corn, BBQ sauce and tomatoes.

2. Prepare corn bread batter as directed.

3. In 9x13 casserole dish, pour beef mixture on bottom and spoon cornbread batter on top, smoothing out to cover beef mixture.

4. Bake in 400 degree oven for 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of cornbread comes out clean.

Thai'd Peanut Chicken

...complements of Chase and Morgan!

I guess people are learning that if they have a good recipe, I'd like to know. Chase and Morgan, two of my good friends, told me about this dish last week. The first thing that caught my eye is that is has six (yes, six) ingredients - and it looks delicious even on paper. I'm always a fan of saving money...maybe it goes back to that finance thing?...so when I see a recipe that calls for a handful of ingredients and incorporates some really awesome Asian flavors, I'm gonna go for it!

As always, I made a few small alterations to this recipe to make it just how I like it...I added the General Tso sauce because I had it in the fridge, but it would be great with hoison sauce or teriyaki (or none - the original recipe only has the peanut butter and soy sauce.) I also tossed the chicken in red pepper flakes before sauteeing and I used a bright orange pepper, which has a very yummy flavor!

Also, use the measurements below as a starting point - if you looooove soy sauce, add more. If you hate garlic, leave it out. One of my favorite things about cooking is that you make the rules. Make it your own and have fun with it!

Thai'd Peanut Chicken

2 TBS peanut butter
2 TBS soy sauce
3 TBS General Tso's sauce (or other Asian sauce of your choice)
1/2 tsp minced garlic
2 bell peppers, cut into cubes
1-2 chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch strips
1/2 pkg wide rice noodles, cooked and drained

1. In large sautee pan, cook chicken until juices run clear. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and red pepper if desired. Add bell peppers and garlic and sautee until tender.
2. Add peanut butter, soy sauce and other Asian-insprired sauce of your choice. Add rice noodles. Mix well and heat through.

Greek Pasta

I love cooking healthy. Well, I also love cooking unhealthy (fried chicken, for example) but it leaves you with that full, bloated, greasy feeling...you know what I mean? Last weekend I was looking for something (a) easy and quick to put together (b) mostly free of fat, esp. unhealthy fats - I'm always okay with olive oil, nuts, etc. and (c) something nutritious with vibrant flavors. I thought something more ethnic would be fun, too, but I'm a bit burnt out on Asian-inspired dishes and Mexican wasn't sounding so wonderful.

I ended up finding a highly-rated Green Chicken Pasta recipe. While I almost decided to make the recipe word-for-word with chicken, Brett agreed that a vegetarian version would be even more healthy - of course we aren't vegetarians but meat can be overrated on occasion.

If there is one word to describe this dish, it's flavorful. There isn't really a sauce, per se, but moreso a bit of melted feta coating the entire dish that is lemon-y, garlic-y, with sweet red onion and artichoke hearts throughout. I served with a loaf of Asiago bread and some olive oil with herbs and sweet vinegar for dipping. This dish will certainly be on my go-to list in the future and has sparked a bit of inspiration of me...I'm on the lookout for a good Mediterranean cookbook now!

Greek Pasta

1 lb uncooked pasta - penne or rotini
1 TBS olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 small red onion, chopped
14 oz can artichoke hearts in water, drained and chopped
1 large tomato, chopped
1 jar Kalamata olives, drained
1/2 C. crumbled feta cheese (I used low-fat, can't tell the difference)
2 TBS lemon juice
parsely, oregano, salt, pepper to taste
grilled, sliced cooked chicken (optional) or shrimp

1. Cook pasta as directed.
2. In large skillet, sautee garlic and onion in olive oil until onion is translucent and tender. Add artichoke hearts, tomato, olives, lemon juice and herbs (and cooked chicken/shrimp if applicable.) Stir and let heat through for 5-10 minutes.
3. Add feta cheese and pasta; toss, heating through for several minutes. Serve.

Apple-Raisin French Toast Casserole

Yes, you read it right.

It started like this: about 7 am this cold Sunday morning, hunger hit. I did the whole eggs + bacon + fried potatoes route yesterday, and my cholesterol couldn't take another hit. Today I wanted something...sweet. And rich. And comforting, and hot. Pancakes? I never was too good at flipping them... waffles? Those always seem to burn....French toast? Yes, getting closer... French toast drenched in apples and butter and cinnamon that bakes happily in the oven while I lay around in pajamas? Yes, perfect. (okay, so maybe my cholesterol DID take another hit....)

This ultimate breakfast comfort food was so yummy, I had seconds about an hour before dinner because I couldn't stop thinking about it. And actually, it would go splendid with a scoop of ice cream for dessert, and maybe some hot brandy syrup poured over the top.

Tip - the original recipe calls for this to be refrigerated overnight. I didn't realize this until halfway through putting it together so I went forward with it anyway. Looking back, I have no idea why it would need to be refrigerated that long - the bread was plenty moist and fluffy.

Apple-Raisin French Toast Casserole

3/4 C. brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 C melted butter
3 red or golden delicious apples, peeled, cored and sliced
1/2 loaf raisin bread (cinnamon-raisin bread is okay too)
6 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/4 C milk
1/2 TBS vanilla extract
2 tsp cinnamon

1. Spray PAM on a 9x13 baking dish. In a small bowl, mix apple slices, brown sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon. Mix in melted butter. Layer the apples on the bottom of the baking dish.
2. Beat the eggs, milk, vanilla and 2 tsp cinnamon in a medium bowl. Take each slice of bread and dunk it in the egg mixture for a minute or two until soggy. Then place the bread slices over the apples, covering the apples with 1-2 slices of bread.
3. Cover with aluminum foil and you may either refrigerate overnight or bake now.
4. Heat oven to 375 and bake for 40 minutes, covered. Remove foil and bake for 5 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand 5 minutes before serving.